Just the facts . . . at least as we know them

Miami Herald ^ | Sep. 15, 2006 | Leonard Pitts

[Paradox]

Just the facts . . . at least as we know them

BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

September 15, 2006

I beg your pardon.

Apparently I made a major error of fact in a recent column. It turns out, contrary to what I wrote, that there never was a Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States.

It wasn't hijacked airliners that brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Nor did any airplane plow into the Pentagon. Nor did United Flight 93 come to earth in a field in Shanksville, Pa. Rather, the U.S. government staged this tragedy in order to dupe the nation into an oil war in the Middle East.

Or at least so I am told by a surprising plurality of readers. Add to that Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela and renowned loose cannon, who said in a speech Tuesday it's possible the U.S. government had a hand in attacking itself on Sept. 11.

Of course, it's also possible the U.S. government doesn't even exist, that it and we and Chavez himself are only figments of the imagination of a little autistic boy staring into a snow globe.

Possible, but not bloody likely.

[Paradox]

Leonard Pitts is definately a liberal, but he is one of the more reasonable liberals around. He was famous for his excellent post 9/11 column where he shared his outrate at the terrorists. While most of his stuff genuflects on mostly liberal themes, and he takes Bush and the Iraq war to task all the time, occasionally he gets it right, which is more than you can say for most lefties. In fact, even when I dont agree with him, I can appreciate his reasonablness, which is so lacking from the left these days.

As for the Conspiracy crap going around, he hits it on the head her.

Note, this column was posted on various papers under different titles, apparently. The one used in the Detroit Free Press was "Just LEONARD PITTS JR.: Maybe Elvis is to blame".

[Shimmer128]

If someone thought our government was behind this, how could even stay here without running, screaming, anywhere else????

No, they don't, they're just intellectually lazy, stupid, and suffer from BDS

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Sounds to me as if he's blaming the Internet for the existence of kooks.

[plain talk]

triangulation. watch for liberals to attack the extreme extreme left to try to make themselves appear to be in the reasonable center. The challenge for our side is to educate the sheeple how the mainstream democrats are in bed with the fringe left and being run by extremists.

[LibLieSlayer]

BDS can be permanently cured by the 50 cent (x2 just to be sure) solution. .45 ACP, 5.56 mm NATO, or 7.62mm NATO... take your choice.

LLS

[Paradox]

Probably, but you have to admit, the Internet makes it alot easier for this garbage to get around.

[reformedliberal]

if someone thought our government was behind this, how could even stay here without running, screaming, anywhere else???

---

Because, they are patriots, of course, silly. They are the new revolutionaries who will save America from the big, bad Republicans. It is their duty.

Just ask them.

[carumba]

...they're just intellectually lazy, stupid, and suffer from BDS

OK I'll bite. What is BDS? Oh, and please don't use me as an example.

[Syberyenta]

BDS is Bush Derangement Syndrome.
:)

[libertylover]

You have a point. For such idiocy to even appear in a major media outlet gives it credence beyond what it deserves.

[Shimmer128]

hahaha, Thankfully (for you) i won't use you as an example of Bush Derangement Syndrome :D

[Erik Latranyi]

BDS can be permanently cured by the 50 cent (x2 just to be sure) solution. .45 ACP, 5.56 mm NATO, or 7.62mm NATO... take your choice.

You pay too much for ammunition.....:)

[carumba]

I was thinking along the lines of Big Dumb S... So you can appreciate why I wouldn't want to be compared.

[Shimmer128]

Oh, well (blush) that's not for me to say!!! :D

[Moose4]

No, no, he means you should get the thug rapper 50 Cent to come shoot you with the aforementioned ammo. Hence, the "50 Cent solution."

}:-)4

[LibLieSlayer]

"You pay too much for ammunition.....:)"


When dispatching enemies, I only use the very best!

LLS

[Star Traveler]

The article said -- "Or at least so I am told by a surprising plurality of readers."

That seems to be quite surprising. How could a *plurality* of readers believe that?

It's about as surprising as the shock I had the other night. Below is from another post that I did --

---

You know, the interesting thing I found out this last 9/11 was that not everyone really *knows* what happened on 9/11 five years ago. This was shocking to me (i.e., what happened with me), but it's true.

I played the "United 93" DVD over at my cousin's house and her daughter was there. She's old enough to know what happened, as she's 22 now. Her mother (my cousin) of course does know... but her daughter didn't.

After the movie was over, I just about fell out of my chair when her daughter said, "I didn't know that all this happened. I didn't know that there were four planes. I thought there was just one and that was it. That's all there was."

My question is -- "Are there other people out there in the United States who think it's nothing much, because they have a very, very faulty understanding of the simple and basic facts of 9/11?"

And yes, the daughter does watch TV all the time -- so -- how could this *radical misunderstanding* of the facts happen?

It does kind of make you wonder.

---

So, it's all part of the "same thing" -- whatever that same thing is (I just don't know about it...).

Regards,
Star Traveler

[RegulatorCountry]

There was a time, years ago, when Leonard Pitts was one of the more reasonable, and readable, liberal columists around. But, he slipped into a near-militancy regarding racial issues, with every single column being basically a rant. Nice to see him stick his head up out of the fever swamp of perpetual grievance, to write something as the unhyphenated American that I know him capable of being.

[JimRed]

You pay too much for ammunition.....:)

Everything costs more in small quantities!

[RegulatorCountry]

"Sounds to me as if he's blaming the Internet for the existence of kooks."

You've got to admit, full-bore kookery has really blossomed with the advent of a worldwide echo chamber, which is what the internet can tend to be. It seems there's nothing too bizarre that like can't encounter like, somewhere.